In an effort to increase traffic to AltWeeklies.com, and thus to member papers' Web sites, AAN modified the story-sharing Web site today to display two slightly different versions of the home page for different audiences. AAN members who are logged in will still be greeted by a home page featuring every story posted on the site, while the general public will only see content that has been selected with the general user in mind. In addition, AAN is running AltWeeklies.com ads on blogs and at the South by Southwest Festival.

Continue ReadingAAN Experiments With Dual Home Pages

A recent survey of AAN papers revealed that the applications alt-weeklies are using to track circulation are as diverse as the newspapers themselves. A few papers rely on their in-house wiz for a custom-made program, but for the rest of the industry, a commercial package is the only sophisticated option. Alt-weekly circulation insiders describe their woes, successes, and dreams of better uses for the numbers.

Continue ReadingCirculation Software Makes Life Easier at Alt-Weeklies

As Editor in Chief of L.A. Weekly, Laurie Ochoa tries to find innovative approaches to special issues, so that "you don't feel like you're reading the same copy over and over again." Viewing the "Best of L.A." through a theme of the seven deadly sins won Ochoa and her staff a first-place AtlWeekly Award for Special Section. This is the 38th and final in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.

Continue ReadingLaurie Ochoa: Building Reader Loyalty Through Special Issues

It was cold outside, but almost 220 individuals braved the weather in Washington, D.C., to attend the AAN East regional conference. They were rewarded with lively seminars, networking opportunities -- and an invitation to write on the walls.

Continue ReadingAAN East Wrapup

Eight of the prospective members are previous applicants, and two are owned by alt-weekly veterans who had been members during a previous association with different papers. AAN members will also be asked this year to evaluate Boston's Weekly Dig and Des Moines' Cityview, the first two post-sale newspapers whose membership will be reviewed under a process established in 2004 when the association's bylaws were amended. The fate of all of these papers will be determined at the organization's next Annual Meeting, which will be held in Little Rock on Saturday, June 17, the last day of the 29th annual AAN convention.

Continue ReadingTen Newspapers Apply for AAN Membership

On Feb. 9 at Lemuria Books in Jackson, two of the Free Press' most distinguished journalists, Editor-in-Chief Donna Ladd and freelance writer Ayana Taylor (pictured), read their award-winning entries from "Best AltWeekly Writing and Design 2005." More than 25 books were sold, and the evening was an all-around success.

Continue ReadingJackson Free Press Hosts Signing of AAN’s AltWeekly Contest Book

Jonathan Gold has reviewed everything from opera to architecture, but it was his mouth-watering food criticism that won him a first-place AltWeekly Award. Gold tries to include as much description of the setting as of the food, to give readers a "vicarious experience" of "how the restaurant might integrate into their lives." And while he can easily drop a reference to béchamel, he is just as likely to mention Fatboy Slim. This is the 37th in a "How I Got That Story" series highlighting the AltWeekly Awards' first-place winners.

Continue ReadingJonathan Gold: Giving Cuisine a Context